ORAmong the Roman provinces of Western Europe, Great Britain occupies a special position. Unlike Gaul or the Iberian Peninsula, the culture of the empire only took superficial roots there, and when immigrants of Germanic descent arrived on the island in the 5th century, it was not strong enough to defend itself against newcomers.

Historians such as Peter Heather and Bryan Ward-Perkins have described the consequences in dramatic phrases: literacy and living standards declined, infrastructure deteriorated, population declined, even simple cultural techniques such as the potter’s wheel were forgotten. By the end of the 5th century, all Roman cities, except for a few bases in what is now Wales, were in ruins, and Britain became the land of the Anglo-Saxons.

A chain of ancient sites

British archeology has long sought to trace this process in detail to better understand its dynamics. It is for this reason that the discovery of a Roman villa in the town of Eastfield, near Scarborough in North Yorkshire, reported last week is an extremely significant find. The excavation not only closes a gap in the chain of ancient sites between Hadrian’s Wall and the Roman-dominated metropolitan areas in southern England, but also opens up a completely new aspect in the development of the two sub-provinces, that of the north. , Britannia. Superior, from the beginning of the third century onwards it was ruled near Eboracum (York).

The excavation photos show the foundations of a palatial complex with a vestibule, bathroom and storage room, which is dominated by a circular structure with adjoining square side chambers. Seen from above, the part of the building resembles a Maltese cross. Archaeologists interpreted it as a tower construction with extensions, but it could also have been a vaulted room that was possibly used for religious purposes, such as a prayer room.

This would give the Eastfield mansion of national significance. So far only a single late Roman complex with a house chapel and Christian frescoes has been found at Lullingstone in Kent. Under one of the side chambers of the lobby there have been remains of underfloor heating with hypocausts. This suggests that the rotunda had a central function for the entire building, at least in the last phase of use.

The economic system of the Roman manors, which in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD formed the backbone of a provincial economy increasingly decoupled from the rest of the empire, collapsed after the last legionaries left 406 temporary barracks or used quarry. The fact that there was such a high-rise manor complex in the north of England at the time can only be explained by the proximity to the military and administrative center of York, which is forty miles away.

Two Roman emperors died there, Septimius Severus 211, Constantius, the father of Constantine the Great, in 306, and there the Legio IV Victrix secured the northern frontier of the empire until they withdrew. In Eastfield, in lieu of the planned residential development, a park will be built on Roman foundations. Its contours must be reproduced in it by stones and vegetation. In this way the trail of the eagle is preserved.